für German · revision 35588

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=8th century, Old High German glosses and Isidor|origins=ine-pro *per-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /fyːɐ̯/, /fʏɐ̯/, /fyːr/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''für'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|gmh|vür]], [[inh|goh|furi]], [[inh|gem-pro|*furi|t=before, for]].^(Kluge 2011|324)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Wiktionary) The same word is [[osx|furi]], [[ofs|fori]], [[non|fyr]] and [[sv|för]], and the Old Norse form with a comparative ending, [[m|non|fyrir]], belongs here too.^(Kluge 2011|324)^(EWA|3, 660)^(Pfeifer 1993) Whether [[got|𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂|tr=faur|t=before]] continues the same Germanic form or the related [[m|gem-pro|*fura]] cannot be decided.^(EWA|3, 660)

+

+ Kluge explains the word as a locative of the zero grade of the root [[ine-pro|*per-|t=in front, early, first]], from which [[Fürst]] is also formed, while [[vor]] is the same root with another ending.^(Kluge 2011|324) Pfeifer starts from [[m|ine-pro|*pəri-]] or [[m|ine-pro|*pri-]] beside the full grade,^(Pfeifer 1993) and Orel compares [[grc|πάρ|tr=pár|t=along]] and the Latin prefix [[m|la|por-]].^(Orel 2003)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old High German ''furi'' is recorded from the 8th century in glosses, the Benedictine Rule, the ''Exhortatio'', Isidor and later Tatian, Otfrid and Notker, as an adverb and preposition meaning “before, past, in front of”, “instead of”, “as” and “because of”, glossing Latin ''ante'', ''prae'', ''pro'' and ''propter''.^(EWA|3, 660)^(Schützeichel 2012|118)^(Köbler AHD) Notker's ''fure unde scameen sih'' (before 1022) still shows the local sense “forward”.^(DWB2|9, 1292)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old and Middle High German both ''furi'' and ''fora'' (modern ''vor'') were used of place and differed mainly in their case: ''furi'' took the accusative for movement towards a place, ''fora'' the dative for rest.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|293)^(DWB2|9, 1292) Already in Old High German the word was used figuratively, and Duden 7 traces these uses to the local sense: a book ''für dich'' was “brought before you”, a remedy ''für'' a cough “placed in front of” it, and to stand ''für'' someone was to step in front of them as a protector.^(Duden 7 2020|293) In Early New High German, above all in Central German, ''für'' and ''vor'' were confused, and the grammarians of the 17th and 18th centuries (Gottsched in 1748, Popowitsch in 1754, Adelung in 1782) separated them: ''für'' with the accusative was kept for the figurative senses “on behalf of, instead of”, ''vor'' for place and time.^(DWB2|9, 1292)^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|293) In the 18th century the old use survived beside ''vor'', as in Lessing's ''du fürchtest dich mehr für die Kanne Wein als für den Teufel''.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ The old local meaning lives on in repeated phrases such as ''Schritt für Schritt'' (properly “one step in front of the other”) and ''Tag für Tag'', and the adverb in ''für und für'' “for ever” and ''das Für und Wider''.^(Pfeifer 1993)^(Duden 7 2020|293)^(Paul 2002) Paul notes that Adelung's verdict of 1775, rejecting ''vor'' in these phrases, decided the modern usage.^(Paul 2002)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 8th century – Old High German ''furi'' appears in glosses and the Benedictine Rule.^(EWA|3, 660)^(Kluge 2011|324)

+ * Late 8th century – ''furi'' is used in the Old High German Isidor.^(Köbler AHD)

+ * 1748 – Gottsched's grammar tries to separate the uses of ''für'' and ''vor''.^(DWB2|9, 1292)

+ * 1775 – Adelung rules that ''Schritt für Schritt'' and similar phrases keep ''für''.^(Paul 2002)

+ * 1782 – Adelung's ''Lehrgebäude'' sets out the division that standard German follows.^(DWB2|9, 1292)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # For, in aid of: names the [[m|en|purpose]] or goal of an action, or the person or thing it favours: ''für den Frieden demonstrieren'' “to march for peace”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # For, intended for: names whom or what something is meant for: ''ein Geschenk für die Nachbarin'' “a present for the neighbour”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Against, as a [[m|en|remedy]] for: ''Tee für die Erkältung'' “tea for a cold”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+ # As, for: with verbs of judging, as in ''etwas für richtig halten'' “to consider something right”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Because of, for: names a reason: ''sich für die Verspätung entschuldigen'' “to apologise for being late”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Instead of, on behalf of: ''für einen kranken Kollegen einspringen'' “to stand in for a sick colleague”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In [[m|en|exchange]] for, at the price of: ''für zehn Euro'' “for ten euros”.^(Duden GWDS 1999)^(Wiktionary)

+ # For a length of time, or for a date: ''für drei Wochen verreisen'' “to go away for three weeks”.^(Wiktionary)

+ # By the standards of: ''für sein Alter groß'' “tall for his age”.^(Wiktionary)

+ # With a repeated noun, one after another: ''Schritt für Schritt'' “step by step”, ''Tag für Tag'' “day after day”.^(Paul 2002)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dafür]]

+ * [[hierfür]]

+ * [[wofür]]

+ * [[fürs]]

+ * [[fürwahr]]

+ * [[fürbass]]

+ * [[Fürsorge]]

+ * [[Fürsprecher]]

+ * [[Fürtuch]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vor]]

+ * [[Fürst]]

+ * [[Frau]]

+ * [[früh]]

+ * [[en|for]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Was für ein'' “what kind of” uses ''für'' without its usual case government.^(Wiktionary) ''Für und für'' “for ever, continually” is found in Luther's psalms and in Opitz.^(Adelung 1793) Adelung already called it obsolete in High German.^(Adelung 1793) ''Das Für und Wider'' “the pros and cons” is the preposition used as a noun.^(Duden GWDS 1999)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}